I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of Lithium-Ion battery technology. I know the basics: they're smaller than the nickel metal hydride cells (as used by the Prius' Synergy Drive), potentially more efficient, catch fire from time to time and, when they do, they're more difficult to put out than my schnauser in a snowstorm. Battery maker EnerDel (owned by Ener1) is set to unveil the fruits of their Li-Ion labors tomorrow. Company Vice Chairman says they've nailed it; their 60 engineers and technicians have developed a hugely efficient, cool-running Li-Ion battery for automotive applications. In a telephone interview with TTAC [below], Charles Gassenheimer revealed some of the technical specs, discussed the company's safety tests and pointed-out that their patented technology is not [yet] applicable to plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles. And what of Toyota's Li-Ion work with Panasonic? Ironically enough, Gassenheimer says his competitor's efforts were recently dealt a blow by… a fire in their factory. [NB: EnerDel officials will be monitoring comments to answer your questions.]
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Nice scoop.
Great interview.
EnerDel has “developed a hugely efficient, cool-running Li-Ion battery for automotive applications-[but]-their patented technology is not [yet] applicable to plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles.”
Q1. What’s holding this EnerDel technology back from being used in a car right away–are there no current cars ready for it just yet?
Q2. Would would you estimate your technology would add to the cost of an average car?
Q3. What’s your estimate of the batteries lifetime (if used in a car)?
What is the weight of this pack?
Mr. Gassenheimer is giving as specs 5 Ah, 2.5V per cell and 24 cells per pack. That yields a capacity of 5 x 2.5 x 24 = 300 Wh of energy per battery pack. That seems quite small compared to 1.3 kWh in a Toyota Prius and 16 kWh envisioned for the Chevy Volt.
Could a Prius run on such a small pack?
Robert, great podcast! It is so hard to keep an open mind about these things. I hope this technology really does work.
Sounds more like hype than anything else. When I see these particular batteries subjected to years of use in an automotive application, then we can call it a “breakthrough”.
EJ, I thought Gassenheimer said 5 amps PER hour, a discharge/recharge rate. One way or another, I didn’t think we got complete informatino about the capacity and capability.
Glenn Swanson, if these things really work, one of the Prius after-marketers that does plug-in modification to Priuses (HyMotion and …?) will probably adopt it, pretty quickly, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on the street as soon as Ener1 can do reasonable volume production. Or Ener1 could partner with a Prius after-marketer to get some street experience/demonstration mileage fairly quickly. Maybe they’ll even have a modified Prius or an Escape hybrid at tomorrow’s rollout.
They are 19.5% owned by Delphi, and here is a statement from their website. “And by serving as a local supplier of advanced performance batteries, the company is able to contribute to the success of the automotive companies who manufacture hybrids in North America.” Coupled with Lutz’s comments about next gen batteries for the Volt, it sounds like GM might have a stake in this already. If they do, kudos.
They don’t.
They have to be interested though, right?
Sigh.
Well, if you were GM and you just hired 600 engineers and signed a multi-million dollar contract with A123 batteries for the same sort of technology, would you say, oops, looks like someone else has cracked it. Sorry guys! Don’t hit your head on the door on the way out.
And that’s why you’re not GM.
Ah, I had heard about that (here) and, apparently, forgot it.